Originally published in 1980 by Thomas M Disch, the source book finds a lamp, an electric blanket, a radio, a hoover and a toaster heading off on a quest to find their owner, who they refer to as The Master. We are reliably informed that he’s simply a man and not a rogue Timelord.

The tome has a storied history with cinema, since John Lasseter was the first to propose turning it into a film as Disney’s first stab at computer animation. He worked with another future Pixar stalwart, Joe Ranft, on a script, but the project never went ahead and Lasseter had to leave it behind when he left Disney.

But fear not! The rights were picked up by Hyperion Pictures and Kushner-Locke, hitting screens in 1987 as a regular ‘toon with distribution from the Mouse House. It was followed by The Brave Little Toaster Goes To Mars (adapted from Disch’s sequel book) and The Brave Little Toaster To The Rescue (an original movie set between the events of the books).

Now Waterman is planning to update the tale (apparently an iPhone may happen along somewhere) and use it to make loads of toysmoney children happy. The original Brave Little Toaster is still a big seller on DVD, particularly across the pond, so you can see why the executives might think this is a good idea.

Oh, and the company also has the rights to Born Free, which will apparently be told from the perspective of the lions this time around.